Abstract

Aging: a question of meaning?

Aging is the mode through which the individual integrates the human community to which he belongs. Based on this postulate, the author questions the nature of the aging phenomenon and the creation of a subculture of the aged in contemporary societies. He then discovers that the phenomenon of aging is rather one of a rupture in the lifelong passage to successive age groups, which presupposes at each stage the learning of new roles. And how does this involve creating meaning in life? Is this still possible when one no longer has a history to relate to younger generations?